Cultural Adjustments 

During our trip to India, there are many cultural norms that we will have to adapt to over the course of the month, especially when it comes to learning about leadership. One thing that we were briefed on before our travels, and was shown a bit in the first few days, was that many people in India tend to use more indirect communication, often relying on nonverbal cues or implied meanings. This may be difficult for us U.S. students to understand as we have become accustomed to more direct communication and expressing ideas openly and specifically. Over the next few days and weeks, we will have to learn nonverbal cues and practice active listening to ensure we understand exactly the message and mission of our guides and teachers. Additionally, every person is different! I believe it will require some time and relationship building with our teachers to not only learn Indian customs of speaking, but also learn their individual teaching styles. I want to be able to learn as much as possible, and that requires understanding all that they are speaking and suggesting. For example, we discussed that our guides may be less likely to give direct criticism, and we may have to try to pull this information out of them! I would like to know throughout the trip exactly what I can improve on so that I can grow! This may require some additional probing from our guides, as I know they have more opinions then they may not first reveal. If not, I will try to understand their perspective as best as I can! 

Learned Leadership 

I believe that leadership is not a set of traits or characteristics, but a set of behaviors that can be learned and refined over time. Through practice, anybody can develop skills such as communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and organization. All people have innate qualities that allow them to inspire and motivate other people. I believe to make a leader, they must learn how to perfect their natural qualities to improve how they communicate and influence other people. For example, when we learned about strength based leadership, each member of the group took the Gallup strengths quiz to categorize our top skills and leadership priorities. When we went around the group to discuss our outcomes, we learned that each individual feels differently about the priority of a group. I, for instance, am not future oriented and spend most of my time adapting to unexpected changes and developing relationships with people around me. Other members of my group prioritize future plans and would rather satisfy an end goal rather than spend time developing group relations. However, this is not to say that one person is more qualified than the other to lead! In fact, it proves that everyone can thrive as a leader in their own way by perfecting and utilizing the skills that they are closely associated with. I would thrive leading equitable group discussion and adjusting to quick changes, but another person in my group will have to step up and lead when it comes to finalizing goals and planning ahead. It may be possible to address the leadership priorities that you lack, but I believe it is significantly more effective as an individual and as a group for each person to learn how to perfect their own leadership styles. Doing what you do best will not only benefit the team you are leading, but it will ensure that you are enjoying your leadership position.